Netaji died of injuries sustained in plane crash: UK website

London: The latest set of witness statements released by a UK-based website set up to unravel the mystery surrounding Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's disappearance seem to confirm that the freedom fighter died as a result of a plane crash in Taiwan.

Five witnesses, which include Netaji's close associate, two Japanese doctors, an interpreter and a Taiwanese nurse, have been quoted as corroborating that the founder of the Indian National Army (INA) died on 18 August 1945 following a plane crash on the outskirts of an airfield in Taipei.

"There are no two opinions between the five witnesses about the fact that Bose's end came on the night of 18 August 1945," www.bosefiles.info said in a statement.

Colonel Habibur Rehman Khan, Bose's aide-de-camp (ADC) who was with him on the fateful day and survived the crash, submitted a statement written and signed on 24 August 1945 – six days after the crash confirming Bose's last words to him.

"Prior to his death he (Bose) told me that his end was near and asked me to convey a message from him to our countrymen to the following effect: 'I have fought to the last for India's independence and now am giving my life in the same attempt. Countrymen! Continue the independence fight. Before long India will be free. Long Live Azad Hind'," the statementreads.

In September 1945, two intelligence teams from India led by police officers named Finney and Davis, assisted by H K Roy and K.P. De, went to Bangkok, Saigon and Taipei to investigate. They concluded Bose had died as a result of the air tragedy.